In your early days as commissioner you were considered a maverick when you publicly formed a partnership with the players enabling the NBA to market them globally. The strategy was a novel approach to your business and flew in the face of other professional leagues which were still stuck in their prehistoric acrimonious business procedure. The strategy worked and launched your league into the economic stratosphere. The arrival of Michael Jordan on the scene and the continued greatness of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson gave you the superstars you needed to turn your league into a global phenomenon. But, Mr. Commissioner, your original plan has run its course and is now actually adversely affecting the quality and the reputation of your league. You need to step in and make substantial changes for the betterment of your game.

The goal to make the NBA global was brilliant and by giving your superstars a certain amount of freedom during games served to elevate their status and greatly enhanced the league’s value earning billions of dollars for the league. The marketing of Jordan to the masses—through commercial vehicles and movies—created a league that superseded baseball in American business and, at the time, rivalled the NFL in popularity. Superstars were given great latitude during games as the results mattered as long as the images were also enhanced.

Great plays, and to a larger extent, great players were given great leeway with the rules. A perfect example of this was during the 1998 Finals when Jordan deliberately shoved aside his defender to make the game winning basket in game six. It was, and is, a play that 99.9% of the players in the game would have been called for an offensive foul. For the NBA it was a marketers dream as the greatest player ever made a title winning jump shot. That replay is stilled played today as one of the great moments in the history of the game. But Mr. Commissioner, the greatness of the play is shrinking under the magnification that Jordan actually got away with a blatant foul.

This favouritism for the better players, and the better teams, has continued and the game today is marred by the constant complaining of players when they don’t get a call. It has degenerated to such a degree that two years ago you implemented a rule that officials be disposed to hand out technical fouls to anyone for anything that was deemed excessive. I am sure that you hoped that this would slow the belligerence involved in games but in reality it is simply a case of taking a glass of water from the ocean.

Today the criticism of your officials is a relentless stream that occurs within the game and afterward among fans and the media alike. The continued punishment of those who criticize the officiating has curbed the boisterous attempts of coaches and renegade owners from emotional post-game reactions, but is had not slowed the condemnations from those not employed in the league. It must be concerning to you to know that the inequitable way in which the sport is officiated has become part of the language of the game. That being aggressive and forcing the officials to make the call are standard clichés—officials are a large part of game planning. In sports the better officiated games are those when the officials are not noticed. I can tell you that never happens in your league.

Here is a comment by Dallas Maverick Jason Terry following the game in New York when Linsanity ruled the roost. “I just think they called it on emotions,” he said referring the officials. “Once they heard the reaction of the crowd they made the call. That call didn’t necessarily win or lose the game for either team, and that’s just part of the game.”

So you will notice that Terry softened his stance enough to avoid being fined but the genesis of the statement is apparent—the officials were swayed to make calls for the Knicks and, the most troubling aspect of the comment, it is just part of the game. So fairness of play becomes secondary behind the will and the emotion of the officials.

Here are further incidents—Kobe Bryant, a player who has long established himself as a superstar, in a recent game against Phoenix was given the benefit of three very obvious calls. The first one he, like Jordan, shed his defender, to create an open shot. The second as he charged through the lane a Phoenix player moved in front of the arc and waited for the oncoming Bryant to take the charge. The call however was a block and instead of the basket being waved off it counted as well as an extra free throw. Then while under the basket Bryant shoved a defender aside so he could grab a rebound for a put-back basket. These three flagrant violations of the rules happened within a three minute span. The calls may have excited the fans at the Staples Center and benefited the glory of Kobe Bryant but for those who are objective on the matter these calls are examples of what is wrong with the game.

Mr. Commissioner, you cannot ask officials to hand out technicals to players who have grown used to getting each and every call. That, I am afraid to say, is your fault. You created the monster—you cannot expect spoiled children to start behaving with nearly inconsequential slaps across the wrist. How else to explain Lebron James cruising through the lane like it is his own personal property contacting defenders on his way to the basket knowing that he will be given the call, and if he isn’t he complains to the official that he was touched. And he has a right to do so because nine out of ten times he gets the call, so he asks—where is the consistency? Where indeed? This is the issue when you create monsters, Mr. Commissioner.

It is an embarrassment to the league to watch great players be given such latitude and believe it is their God given right. The strategy of the eighties for marketing the best players is backfiring—it is time to change. And I believe, Mr Commissioner, your officials would not only appreciate the opportunity to call a fair game but would actually do a better job of enforcing it. You must hear the joke your officials have become. It is talked about on television and on radio, you can read about it in newspapers, magazines, websites—the language of the game is that the preferential treatment from your officials is standard operating procedure. “There’s no way he gets that call—he’s a rookie,” is one standard line, or “you have to show the officials that you are being aggressive and force them to make a call.” As I said the incompetence of your game officials is part of the language of the game.

Two more examples. In a game against the Lakers the Raptors were called for a five second violation with 4.2 seconds left on the game clock, even though the player in-bounding and the coaching staff were vehemently calling a time out. It was not granted. The word after the game was very simple—if it was the Lakers in-bounding they would have been granted the timeout. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant—as they say Mr. Stern perception is reality.

The second instance came a few nights later during a game between San Antonio and Toronto. The game was a hard fought affair between two teams trying very hard to win. The difference in the game was that the Raptors were called for 26 fouls while the Spurs only incurred 11. The game was competed on even footing in every regard save for the foul count, and that contributed to a weighty number of free throws in the Spurs advantage. What do you think the chatter was after the game? It wasn’t how sublime Tony Parker was or how efficient the Spurs were—but then as long as you continue to turn a blind eye to these events more criticism of your league will follow.

You have done a remarkable job in building the NBA into the global entity it is today, but unless you take a hard look at how the game is being played the fans you worked so hard to acquire will look at your league like a carnival show where the strong man and the bearded lady get the biggest ovations. I know this, Mr. Commissioner because I am one of those fans.

Did you know…

…That the Toronto Blue Jays, operating in the seventh largest market in North America, are in the bottom third in payroll in major league baseball. But then I am sure that has nothing to do with the fact that Rogers now partially owns both the Maple Leafs and the Raptors. Has absolutely nothing to do with it. Right?

…That the Toronto Maple Leafs are on the verge of missing the playoffs, again. But while Leaf nation may be in a panic the process conducted by GM Brian Burke is actually working. It may be slow process but the Leafs were a team under previous regimes that constantly imported aging veterans and took one year shots at making the playoffs. Burke decided that the Leafs needed to rebuild from scratch and while several of his moves have been questionable the team is much more interesting to watch than they were in the past. And he is right stating that making the playoffs just to get annihilated in the first round is not the goal and this year, as presently constituted, if the Leafs make the playoffs they will be crushed by either the Rangers or the Bruins.

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